In October 2018, flyweight icon Demetrious Johnson was traded from the UFC to ONE Championship.
In sports like baseball, basketball, football, and hockey, trades between teams are remarkably common. But in MMA, it had never been done before. And has never been done since. After 11 consecutive defenses of the 125-pound title, ‘Mighty Mouse’ was moved to the Singapore-based promotion in exchange for former Bellator MMA and ONE world champion Ben Askren.
Looking back on the historic moment during a recent appearance on the JAXXON podcast with Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Johnson revealed that the move to ONE was the best decision he ever made for his career as a mixed martial artist.
“They would never let a flyweight at my time make $500,000,” Johnson revealed. “That was like the standard pay for mixed martial artists for the champion. If you became a champion was like you got that five bills plus pay-per-view points. So, for me, they would never give that to me, and when I lost to Henry Cejudo [I was talking to my manager] and he was like, ‘What do you want to do, bro?’
“I want to see if they’ll let me go because, at the time, they were talking about getting rid of that division. Let me see if I’m able to get out of my contract. They were able to make it happen,” Johnson recalled. “They traded me for Ben Askren, and I think it was the best decision that I ever did in my mixed martial arts career.”
Did Joe Rogan Play a Role in Demetrious Johnson’s Trade to ONE?
In more recent years, a rumor has emerged suggesting that popular podcaster and long-time UFC commentator Joe Rogan played an integral role in Demetrious Johnson’s move to ONE. While ‘Mighty Mouse’ believes Rogan likely encouraged Dana White to make the call, it was ultimately up to the UFC CEO to follow through and finalize the historic trade.
“See, I talked to Joe Rogan and Joe Rogan says ‘No, I had nothing to do with it,'” Johnson said. “So you never know. When I heard that Joe Rogan convinced Dana White to do it, Joe was like ‘Dude, why not? Just get Ben Askren and see what’s gonna happen right? Like, if you plan on getting rid of the division, do it. Even though Joe Rogan’s one of my biggest fans and believes in my skillset, I think at the time, Dana was… And sometimes when I go back and look at videos of Dana White promoting me, I felt like he did a good job.
“There’s some videos of him sh*tting on me as well. He sh*t on everybody, but at the same time, I just wasn’t selling in the states. I think the flyweight division just wasn’t as popular as it is today.”
Making his ONE Championship debut in 2019, Johnson scored three straight wins to claim the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix championship. Less than three years later, he would go on to become the ONE flyweight world champion with a stunning fourth-round knockout of Adriano Moraes at ONE on Prime Video 1.
Johnson currently sits as the promotion’s reigning flyweight king, but after nearly two decades of dominance in combat sports, ‘Mighty Mouse’ is assessing whether or not he will return to the ONE Circle in 2024 or call it a career.
Watch the full episode below:
